The present invention relates to equine tack and more particularly, to an equine saddle pad.
Traditionally, saddles for horseback riding have been secured over one or more blankets of coarse, raw wool. The blanket is spread over the horse's back to basically cover those areas contacted by the saddle and usually the stirrup straps. The primary function of the blanket is protection of the mount from chafing and abrasion caused by the saddle and straps. Secondarily, the blanket provides a cushioning function for both the horse and the rider. Additionally, the blanket offers a small degree of wicking to remove the horse's perspiration and admit a small degree of air ventilation between the horse's back and the saddle.
As a natural material, fresh raw wool performs the saddle blanket function reasonably well. Natural oils in the wool resist moisture saturation. Even though wet with perspiration wicked from the horse's back, the wool fibers sustain a large degree of resilience and openness to ventilation.
However, as a natural animal hair, wool also harbors and even sustains bacteria, fungus and mildew. The usual sanitation practice of washing the blanket with soap and water also removes the protective natural oils from the fiber, thereby reducing the primary advantages of wool. Once these natural oils are removed from the wool fiber, water is absorbed and the wet resilience is lost.
Numerous synthetic materials have also been used for saddle pads and blankets including fabrics woven from polyester and other similar materials. Also, elastomer foams such as polyether, polyurethane and polyurethane foams have been used. Although each of these materials have particular strengths or advantages relative to natural raw wool, none have a combination of properties comparable to wool. For example, a closed cell foam provides excellent resilience but almost no moisture wicking or ventilation capacity. Woven synthetic materials have little resilience or moisture wettability. Consequently, synthetic fiber has but small moisture wicking properties.
It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide a synthetic material saddle pad having a high degree of air ventilation and wettability for moisture drainage.
Another object of the invention is a saddle pad that remains resilient when wet.
Another object of the invention is a saddle pad that drains perspiration from the horse's back without saturating the pad fibers.
Yet another object of the invention is a saddle pad that does not absorb the horse's perspiration.
Still another object of the invention is a saddle pad that may be sanitized with soap and detergent without consequence of functional deterioration such as resilience.
Another object of the invention is a saddle pad that quickly dries after washing.
And another object of the invention is a highly flexible saddle pad that easily conforms to the horse's contours.
Another object of the invention is a saddle pad that is slip resistive between both the horse's back and the saddle thereby assisting the saddle girth function and to better secure the relative position of the saddle on the horse, especially in steep terrain riding.
As an incident of the foregoing invention object, extreme saddle girth tension on the horse for steep terrain and rapid turn riding is reduced if not eliminated.
A further object of the invention is a saddle pad of synthetic material that does not sustain bacteria or fungus.
Also an object of the invention is a saddle pad that sheds or drains the horse's perspiration away from the horse and rider.
No less an object of the invention is a saddle pad having a high degree of adherence to the back of a horse and more particularly, to the back of a wet horse.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a riding pad useful for both saddle seating and bareback riding.
These and other objects of the invention to be described hereafter by the drawings and detailed description, are accomplished by a saddle pad formed from a nonwoven mat of soft, flexible, extruded filaments of polymer such as low density polyvinyl chloride. In the preferred embodiment, the saddle pad mat is a continuous, randomly piled accumulation of extruded filament about 1/2 inch thick.
The polymer filaments are about 10 mil to about 30 mil in nominal diameter and are extruded from a gangplate of orifices about 12 to 26 mils in diameter. These filaments fall upon a moving surface landing area that carries the accumulation from the loading area at a rate coordinated to the filament delivery rate to produce a continuous web of about 1/2 inch and about 65% to about 80% void volume.
The mat is cut to the configuration of the intended saddle or riding style, whether Spanish, western or continental. Down the center of the pad along the line of the horse's spine, an approximately 1-inch wide strip of material is partially heat fused from at least the top side of the pad. Desirably, a 1/2-inch wide band around the perimeter is also fused, both top and bottom.
In use, the smoother pad surface is placed directly against the horse's back and the saddle secured directly over the pad. If desired, however, a conventional wool or cotton saddle blanket may be placed between the pad and saddle.